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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — Once upon a time, NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center was the site of more than 50 space shuttle landings.

With the end of the shuttle program, those days are gone. But Dryden's days are not.

It’s next chapter is still deeply rooted in NASA’s past.

"Some of the new technologies we're working on here aren't really new concepts, it’s just how we're applying them,” said Kevin Rohrer, strategic communications specialist at Dryden Flight Research Center in the Mojave Desert. “For instance, the unmanned aircraft systems."

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, commonly known as drones, now take center stage at Dryden.

UAV pilots trade in the cockpit for a control room.

"The pilot does not have a control stick, or rudder pedals," said Phillip G. Hall, Global Hawk deputy project manager at Dryden. “He has a mouse and keyboard."

Experts said some key advantages of unmanned aircraft are their ability to reach altitudes of more than 10 miles high. They can also stay in the air for extended periods of time.

"You can look at the changing conditions of a hurricane while it is forming that then gives you data where you can better design models to predict how a hurricane is going to grow," said Rohrer.

In 2007, Mark Pestana remotely piloted an Ikhana aircraft on the western states fire mission. The unmanned aircraft was able to reach low-visibility areas and provided real-time data to fire crews on the ground.

"It was very exciting to accomplish the mission,” said Pestana. “It was very rewarding to be able to deliver this product to the forest service."